I was brave..."Once"...

June 4, 2008

The laughs of idle homeless men was all I heard, while I walked alongside the curve. They were making making flippant remarks about an alpaca owner. It was tempting to ask about who it was they so notably despised; However, the moment would have been awkward and I would have felt uneasy by their unwelcoming glances. So, putting that aside, I continued walking towards my destination : Colgate University. From experience, I must say that Colgate is a pretty good college. The teachers explain perplex concepts well, and the food there is top-notch. The students are amiable, but regularly quiet. The administrator, Mrs. Machiavelli, is down-to-earth, and she is not austere and mean like most students make her out to be. Colgate University itself is magnificent; it bears a homey environment and is a huge campus added with a modern design. What more could I ask for? At this point I was right across from Colgate University, all I had to do was wait for the light and cross. Though, unfortunately, my path was blocked by a great sum of people running towards me. I could have sworn that they were running a marathon or at least preparing for one. Turns out, from the look of their faces, something heinous has occurred.  The skies were enveloped with smoke and at a distance I could see flames. I was in disbelief that Colgate University was in such misfortune, it was now impossible to take in what was happening. So, to get the verisimilitude back, I quickly spotted bystanders and trotted towards them. Once I got to them I asked what caused this and they have claimed that a violent eruption has occurred in the 3rd Quarter and disseminated throughout half of the college. I stood there like anyone else, looking on as the school came to its demise. But, wait...? Why wasn't anyone pulling out a cellphone or running to a nearby pay phone to call the fire department or alert the cops.  Yes, I could clearly see heroic figurines diving into the fire to save another, but this? Seeing all these people do nothing and look on as if it was fate that this building burned down was sort of eerie. Could it be they were too dazzled by the unexpected rotten hand or beguiled to where they think they cant do anything but wait on specialized help? At first looking seemed like a great idea, but the more I starred I saw the fire spread even more and noticed the hero's from before could not handle the situation on their own, so I decided to help. I rushed on to the streets, making my way around the pack of parked cars -- they too have be captivated by such -- and came face-to-face with the burning flames. Before I proceeded, i made sure everything I wore was not flammable or easy to catch on fire. After that inspection, I advanced on the battle field, awaiting my fiery opponent. I met up with a couple of people who had went in already and were prepared to go back for more; I got to them strictly talking of ways to save a hundred at one time. One seemed to disagree with me and saw it impossible to save so many in that amount of time. I asked him if he could think of a better solution, but he was reluctant to tell, so we agreed to go with my idea. There were ten of us and approximately eight-hundred rooms. A young woman suggested that we split up in groups of two going different directions. Again, the same man was against our advancement. I was beginning to believe he was scared and could not handle a second time around. So, I told him " You either come with us or go." His face harden after I said that and decided to stay with us. We chose our paths and went in. I was paired up with Ashton, a senior here at Colgate, and we took a less harmful route to the back. He advised me to go along the rail instead of the cross walk, then dash up the stairs. I did just that. He and I had to be quick because the metal rods were easily melted and could collapse at at any given moment. Our job was to check for stranded people in the 4th and 6th buildings.We arrived at the doors and begun kicking and banging. Ashton and I finally broke threw, and quickly examined the room for 'what could be'  fatal. We didn't see any corpses, fortunately,we did see two people. The two helpless students were delighted to see us as we guided them around the fire. Meanwhile, Ashton told me that he was going to look around one last time to make sure he didn't miss anyone. I nodded and led the two people out to safety. I asked if they were okay, and checked for any injuries, then I pointed out the path of safety. They smiled,shook my hand, then fled. I waited patiently for Ashton to finish, but the wait took longer than expected. I wasn't sure if he found someone and needed help carrying them or if he was trapped. I slightly opened the door and was immediately bombarded with flames; I swung the entire door back and found the whole room had caught on fire. I yelled Ashton's name, but received no answer. I wanted to panic, but I becalmed myself not to get to that point. I was on a mission and there were no room for mistakes! I yelled out his name once more and got the same result. I knew I had to abandon him, there was no way of telling if he was alive or not. The fire would have killed me and the attempt to save him would have been a fiasco. In spite of what I saw, I was still hope full that he would come out of this alive. Alone, I hastened the mission and had to tackle the 8th building by myself. I dread that this would happen. Finishing the mission alone, unknown of any dangers that another pair of eyes would normally spot out for you-- it was stressful. I sprinted along the rail and jogged up the stairs; the 8th Quarter was not as bad as the 4th, but it was still extremely dangerous. Once I got up there, I quickly charged at the door. This time the door was impossible to open; if I had a partner I would make some progress, but this door was just not budging. So, I had to brake through the window. Using my bare hands would cut and cause them to bleed against the broken glass, so I quickly had to find something heavy. I saw a couple of rocks, they were not the size I needed, but I used them anyway. One after the other, I threw as hard as I could. I managed to make dents but nothing grand. Soon I gave up on the rocks and decided to use my elbow and feet. I wrapped a rip piece of cloth around my elbow, and began banging against the window. It was working, and I didn't stop to check on my progress. I finally broke through and jumped inside. I called out for anyone and, relieved, they called back. I spotted their whereabouts and they were trapped. A circle of flames surrounded them. As I commenced my way towards them, I was unaware of the danger ahead. I was careful of where I stepped, but at the same time keeping a quick pace. The fire was growing and would soon trap me. I was close enough to reach for the first persons hand. I pulled him up, then reach for the other. I told the man that I  helped first  to clear the door way of any fires-- for a quick escape. He obeyed. I reached out for the second person and she quickly grabbed my hand. But as soon as she did the floor collapsed, and a pit of fire was all I could see. The girl was still hanging on, nearly pulling me down with her! I had to summon great strength to pull her up; the man noticed my struggles and was about to come to my aid, but I yelled back at him to stay. I was not sure how to pull this woman up, the floor beneath me was debilitated and could collapse at anytime. I struggled to stand, but when I did my feet were slipping towards the edge and it was becoming harder to save  the both of us.